Updated for 2026-2027
Every college essay you need to write, in one place.
Pick your schools and Top Essay lays out every 2026-27 prompt they require, with live word counts, autosave, and progress you can see.
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Every prompt, organized
School supplemental essays, UC personal insight questions and the Common App personal statement, all in one place.
Counters and autosave
Live word and character counts against each school's real limits, with drafts saved to your account as you type.
Progress you can see
Track deadlines and progress by ED, EA, or RD. Mark essays done, share drafts privately for feedback, and copy them into the Common App.
Essay prompts by school, 2026-27
Every supported school, with each prompt's word limit and any program supplements.
Common AppPersonal statement, 7 prompts
UCASPersonal statement, 3 questions
Amherst College1 required essay
Boston College1 required essay, program supplements
Boston University1 required essay, program supplements- Bowdoin College2 optional
Brown University4 required essays, program supplements
California Institute of Technology5 required essays, 1 optional
Carnegie Mellon University3 required essays
Claremont McKenna College2 required essays
Columbia University6 required essays
Cornell Universityprogram supplements
Dartmouth College3 required essays
Duke University2 required essays, 3 optional
Emory University2 required essays
Georgetown University3 required essays, program supplements
Georgia Institute of TechnologyNo supplement this cycle
Harvard University5 required essays
Imperial College LondonNo supplement this cycle
Johns Hopkins University1 required essay
King's College LondonNo supplement this cycle
London School of Economics and Political ScienceNo supplement this cycle
Massachusetts Institute of Technology8 required essays
New York University1 optional
Northeastern Universityprogram supplements
Northwestern University1 required essay, 5 optional
Pomona College2 required essays
Princeton University4 required essays, program supplements
Purdue University2 required essays, 5 optional
Rice University3 required essays, program supplements
Stanford University8 required essays
Swarthmore College2 required essays
Tufts University1 required essay, program supplements
University College LondonNo supplement this cycle
University of BristolNo supplement this cycle
University of California4 required essays
University of Cambridge1 optional
University of Chicago2 required essays
University of EdinburghNo supplement this cycle
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign1 optional, program supplements
University of Manchesterprogram supplements
University of Maryland5 required essays
University of Michigan2 required essays, program supplements
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillNo supplement this cycle
University of Notre Dame3 required essays
University of Oxfordprogram supplements
University of Pennsylvania2 required essays, program supplements
University of Southern California11 required essays, 2 optional, program supplements
University of Texas at Austin2 required essays, 1 optional
University of Virginiaprogram supplements
University of WarwickNo supplement this cycle
University of Washingtonprogram supplements
University of Wisconsin–Madison1 required essay
Vanderbilt University1 required essay
Washington University in St. Louis1 required essay, program supplements
Wellesley College1 required essay
Williams CollegeNo supplement this cycle
Yale University5 required essays